Caught A Lite Sneeze

"Caught a lite sneeze. Caught a lite breeze. Caught a lightweight lightningseed. Boys on my left side. Boys on my right side. Boys in the middle - and you're not here. Doot do, do do do do do, doot oo... I need a big loan from a girl zone."

I always thought 'caught a lite sneeze' was the whole concept. You think you've gotten something more, but it turns out to be nowhere near what you thought. And I think that's in reference to her relationship with someone. She thought she had found something serious, and it turned out to just be bullshit. I don't know about all the boys, but I think she's taking a stab at whoever this is about saying, I got boys all around, and you're not here. "I need a big loan from the girl zone." I always thought maybe she felt she needed to reconnect with herself again. Be by herself for a while to get her head back on straight, figure everything out. Reconnect with the part of her she lost in the relationship.

"Building... tumbling... down. Didn't know our love was so small. Couldn't stand it at all. Mister Saint John just bring your son."

She watches everything fall apart and thinks "God I didn't realize it meant so little in the end." Didn't know it didn't mean that much to him and in the end it just crashes down and she can't believe she put all that into the relat. it didn't even matter to him? Maybe being in love with someone and finally at the end you realize they never really loved you? And you realize how trite and cheap and empty the whole thing was? "Mister St. John, just bring your son." I'm not sure about that, perhaps it's like okay you're a saint, (who maybe shouldn't have children) but someone says go ahead, bring your son, like it's something he can easily do. Perhaps she's showing duality. He's a saint but he's also a father, and he's a saint but he's also a mister. Maybe having two different faces so to speak.

"The spire is hot and my cells can't feed. And you still got that Belle dragging your foots, yes. I'm hiding it well, Sister Ernestine. But I still got that Belle dragging my foots, yes."

The spire is hot makes me think of how the church always tells you you're going to hell if you don't repent. I'm hiding it well Sister Ernestine--maybe that's saying, I fucked up and you're going to be pissed over it, but I'll just hide my shame and end up worse off because god forbid anyone know I made a mistake.

"Right on time. You get closer and closer, call my name. There's no way... in- use that fame. Rent your wife and kids today. And maybe she will, I said maybe she will. Caught a lite sneeze. Dreamed a little dream. Made my own pretty hate machine. Boys on my left side. Boys on my right side. Boys in the middle and you're not here. Boys in their dresses and you're not here. I need a big loan from a girl zone. I need a big loan from a girl zone."

Someone's trying to get through to her, but she's done, she won't let anyone else in. "Rent your wife and kids today" strikes me as, fine, go find some meaningless relationship that's easier for you to handle. It's easier to just "rent a wife and kids for the day" instead of going out and working for it and putting something into those relationships. Caught a lite sneeze again refferring to the emptiness in the end. Dreamed a little dream--how it ended was nowhere near how it should've ended or how she feels it was meant to end. Her dreams set her up for disappointment.

"Made my own pretty hate machine"

I always loved that line, but as I am not really a huge NIN fan, I'd only heard in passing that this was a ref. to Trent Reznor. I had previously seen it as..."okay I can shut myself off just like you did. I can be just like you. I can shut everyone out and hate everyone, just like you did."

I don't know, but those are my impressions.

I'm sort of going to go on a limb to say this, but I think the Mister St. John thing might be a reference to Jane Eyre.

Perhaps something having to do with her relationship with Trent Reznor due to the mentioning of 'pretty hate machine' which was an album of his if I'm not mistaken.

Well, neither Trent nor Tori speak much of their relationship, tho it's rumored the problems Trent had with Courtney Love is what broke them up (or at least what could have been) Too bad though, they would have made beautiful babies together. Though she mentioned Nine Inch Nails in "Precious Things", had his back up vocals on "Past the Mission" and even in "Professional Widow" she says "Starfucker" which later becomes a NIN song. But I think it's a message to those girls that believe they're with THE ONE, but in reality, he's only a lite sneeze. For lack of a better term -he aint that great- .

all the men in her life were suddenly gone, and she had no one to turn to. she was involved in a weird love triangle with a certain someone when she wrote this.

great video

I think that's the harpsichord.

i think both have you may have misintrepreted that bit about the nun, a nun invoking the godess would actually be a nun going against all she belives, the very core of christianity itself, finding new faith... which seems to be alot of what the song is about, if you look at the video many images of the church appear at various places but are transformed or destroyed in some fasion. then again thats really only one aspect of the song, rarely do tori's song have only one meaning or message.

the guys above are clearly right...it is about or to Trent, they always convey messages to one another in songs. They were lovers for a brief period in time and have remained friends. Her next song envolving him was Bliss, it is about God and Trent and trent thinking he is God.

Benzodiazepine_Dave, "Bliss" is actually about her relationship with her father. But I do believe this is about her & Trent, I mean "pretty hate machine" is a pretty obvious hint. She had a fling with him, and this is about a fling. Look at the first comment's quotes: "He was a lite sneeze, and not the flu. Guys would like to think they're the flu, but sometimes they're just a 'h'achoo'" She's saying, he infected her, but not for long. It's about thinking a relationship was much more than it actually was. It wasn't a relationship ("the flu") it was a fling, a "lite sneeze". Sounds like she's kind of sad of the fact it was just a lite sneeze, quite bitter, she might have hoped/thought it was more but now it's over she can see it for what it really was: "Didn't know our love was so small, couldn't stand at all..." etc. Amazing, amazing song. The way she sings it, with such sorrowful passion...stunning.